Citation Nr: 22017367
Decision Date: 03/24/22	Archive Date: 03/24/22

DOCKET NO. 15-15 793
DATE: March 24, 2022

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for left knee degenerative joint disease, to include as secondary to a service-connected right knee disability, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1991 to September 1991 and from August 1995 to July 2001, with additional periods of reserve service.  This matter came before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veteran's Law Judge during a June 2018 hearing.  The transcript of the hearing is of record.  September 2018 and November 2021 Board decisions remanded the issue on appeal for further development.  

Since the November 2021 Board decision, the issue of service connection for a skin disability, to include candida, was granted by the RO in a December 2021 rating decision.  That issue is therefore no longer before the Board. 

The Board notes that the Veteran's representative contended, in the February 2022 appellate brief submission, that the Veteran is entitled to a total disability rating due to unemployability (TDIU).  The Board has no jurisdiction over this issue.  If the Veteran wishes to get a TDIU, he is invited to file the appropriate claim.

Entitlement to service connection for left knee degenerative joint disease, to include as secondary to a service-connected right knee disability  

The Veteran contends that his service-connected right knee disability caused his left knee disability.  The November 2021 Board remand asked for a new VA examination and opinion to address secondary service connection.  A VA examination was provided in December 2021 and the examiner concluded that the Veteran's left knee disability was not likely due to his service-connected right knee disability.  The rationale was that there was no indication of an abnormal gait pattern, and the right and left knee conditions are different entities with different processes unrelated to each other.  The December 2021 examiner concluded that there is "no objective evidence that the left knee was aggravated beyond its natural progression by the right knee."  The Board finds the opinion to be inadequate.  Indeed, the examiner's opinion regarding aggravation did not include any reasoning and the opinion as a whole did not consider or discuss the Veteran's lay statements, as asked.  The examination is therefore inadequate and remand for a new examination regarding secondary service connection is required. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate provider regarding the etiology of the Veteran's left knee disability.  The examiner should review the file and provide a complete rationale for all opinions expressed.  The following opinion is requested:

(a.) Whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's left knee disability is caused or aggravated by his service-connected right knee disability.  

In providing the opinion, the examiner should consider and discuss the Veteran's lay statements of record, to include his June 2018 testimony and any other lay statements regarding the onset and persistence of his symptoms.

2. If upon completion of the above action the appeal remains denied, the case should be returned to the Board after compliance with appellate procedures.

 

 

E. I. VELEZ

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Y. Akkad

The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.